Elliott's Birth Story

On the morning (early morning) that Elliott decided to arrive we were not...er...how should I say it...prepared?  I mean we had diapers and supplies, etc. but the household was under the weather.  Dave had just started antibiotics for Bronchitis, Kyan was getting over a cold and I was fine other than being very pregnant.  Oh, and to top it all off Dave had just started (and I mean days here) the training period for a new job.  All of these things set the stage for me dubbing 2011 the year of bad timing....but as all babies do Elliott picked his perfect time and we just had to deal with it.  And deal with it we did.
For a week before E's birth I had some false starts.  They felt like the "rushes" that Ina May and the gang talk about in Spiritual Midwifery.  They made me wonder if I had forgotten what contractions felt like.  But they faded and so I just kept on with my days and waited for something concrete to happen.
In the early hours of March 16th Kyan called out in his sleep.  As far as I remember it was 4 a.m.  I walked into his bedroom and had my first contraction.  Immediately I said to myself: this is what they feel like.  And I knew this was it for sure.  I laid down in the bed for a few minutes and had two or three more and decided I had to wake Dave.  My first labour was 7 hours and it was established with the midwives and all friends and family that my second labour would be faster than that.  I was not prepared for how fast that was.
We called the midwife first.  She talked to me on the phone.  When I said that I had talked through a contraction she said that if they were still manageable to that degree then it was too early for her to come.  She said to take a shower and they would either subside or intensify.  And she assured me that she'd start gathering her things and prepare to leave regardless.
I jumped in the shower and within minutes the contractions became overwhelming.  As I'm moaning to Dave to call the midwife again, Kyan called out and woke up.  Dave somehow managed to call the midwife just before Kyan began throwing up in the sink.  Seriously?  What the...any way.  Dave also called Heidi Joy, my best friend who is also a Doula and his mother who was to hang out with Kyan while we took care of business.  In a matter of minutes we set out the birth area in our bedroom, put on music, lit a candle and I tried not to panic.  I remember having no concept of time but knowing that things were moving fast.  And I needed the support people there now.  I have a distinct memory of being on my hands and knees on the floor pounding it with my fist through the contractions.  Saying when will they get here, when will they get here.

And then Heidi arrived.  And then my mother-in-law arrived.  I felt more relaxed then but the contractions were not letting up at all.  After Dave admonished the midwife to "haul ass" a term she had never had directed at her before in her career..lol....she too arrived.  With everyone there I felt safe and had my most peaceful moment of the birthing stage when my water broke.  With my first birth I had been on the toilet when my water broke and so I felt nothing but a pop.  With E I was laying on my side on the floor and the water gushed in what felt to me like waves.  Fluid, rhythmic waves.  And after that the midwife was telling me it was time to push.  Push! I say, I've only just begun labour.  It's time to push though everyone tried to convince me.  And then my labour clouded brain relayed to me, push you silly and then this will all be over.  You'll be done.  Get going.  So in a very few pushes out came Elliott.  And he screamed for 20 minutes straight despite my best efforts to soothe him.

  The midwife (the wonderful Yarra) said he was the healthiest baby she had seen born in a long time.  Oh, and did I mention that he was born at 5:30?  Yah.  An hour and a half.  In an hour and a half 7 pounds and 14 ounces of sunshine was born and made our family complete.  So here is to my Pisces, curly haired, blue-eyed baby boy who is now almost 14 months old and is full of mischief.

  He honours several ancestors with his names and also decided to honour one more by being born on my Grandmother Mary's birth date.   So out of all of the crazy bad timing of 2011 the date he picked to be born was the most perfect day to be born into our family.